The Library
The Library is a massive archology containing the collected knowledge and history of all of known races. It is located on Legion, the human homeworld. Origin As a way to ensure that the collected knowledge of the ages was not lost because of the distance between the Earth and the newly founded Legion, humans created a vast storehouse of information that was made freely accesable to all of the citizens of Legion. It was intended to contain the combined knowledge of the whole human race, and as such it proved to be a massive endeavor. Early in its existence, the decision to attempt to avoid politicising the information kept within the archive was made, and it resulted in the supervising body known as the Board of Scholars being elected in secret, and that secrecy being preserved for all members with the highest priority. This decision to archive this information proved to be foresight of the keenest awareness, as the tragic event called The Cataclysm destroyed Earth, leaving the Library as the only remaing source of information on Earth history and culture. When humans joined the United League of Planets, the archive was opened to the other member species, and storage was offered to them to participate in the project. As a result of that openness, The Library has become the Premier data repository in the ULP, and as such is treated as both a priceless artifact and a neutral sanctuary by almost all of the member races. Facts The Library holds the holds the largest archive of books and periodicals (both Electronic and non), music, art and media ever assembled in human history. The structure of the main Archology has been expanded over time, and has come to encompass an area many square miles in diameter, featuring 37 seperate wings with over 50 million physical texts in each wing, not counting the electronic storage. Each of the 7 Member races of the ULP is provided a 100 Yottabyte Solid-State Memory Core for storing electronic media. These Cores are updated and replaced once every ten years, with the older version serving as an archive backup until the next replacement cycle. The Droids have requested the storage limit be increased, for purposes they have declined to elaborate on. In addtion to the cores granted to the Big Seven races, The Library maintains an 8th core that is used for what the Board of Scholars deems significant to all sentient life, and its storage space is made available to species outside of the Big Seven such as the Chellis. Though humans founded it, the library has evolved beyond human roots and racial affiliations. It is recognized as multi-species effort, and treated as such. While much of the archive is maintained by hundreds of thousands of automata including robots and A.I., the staff of The Library (known as The Spokesmen) numbers more than 50,000 and represents a true diversity of species working in unprecedented harmony for a common purpose. This interaction is widely shown as one of the examples of the ULP's success, although some disparigingly refer to it as the only success. Rumors After The Cataclysm it was rumored that a worried Board of Scholars ordered that a secret backup location be created outside of the Olympus system. It is said that copies were made of all data and stored there for fear of losing the repository in a similar disaster. It is unknown if the ever-evolving collection of The Library is duplicated in its entirety there, if the archive is only the original Earth materials, or if the whole thing is a non-existent delusion held by conspiracy theorists. Although the data in The Library is meant to be free to all members of all species, the Corpers (presumably Ultima Division 42) wage a clandestine war against Crossbones Exchange within its stacks. The Corpers reputably hope to alter or remove data they think has commercial value, or treads on their perceived property and patent rights, while the pirates of the Crossbones Exchange try to steal the Corpers' secrets and make them free to public view. Category:Locations